ntal, and is formed of two
slender cylinders, or rather of two rods, about fifty-four inches apart,
each held in place by two large pegs driven into the ground about three
feet distant from each other. The warps of the chain were strongly
fastened, then rolled round the top cylinder till they were stretched
sufficiently tight. Mill sticks placed at certain distances facilitated the
insertion of the needles which carried the thread. As in the Gobelins
factory, the work was begun from the bottom. The texture was regulated and
equalised by means of a coarse comb, and was rolled upon the lower cylinder
as it increased in length. Hangings and carpets were woven in this manner;
some with figures, others with geometrical designs, zigzags, and chequers
(fig. 272). A careful examination of the monuments has, however, convinced
me that most of the subjects hitherto supposed to represent examples of
tapestry represent, in fact, examples of cut and painted leather. The
leather-worker's craft flourished in ancient Egypt. Few museums are without
a pair of leather sandals, or a specimen of mummy braces with ends of
stamped leather bearing the effigy of a god, a Pharaoh, a hieroglyphic
legend, a rosette, or perhaps all combined. These little relics are not
older than the time of the priest-kings, or the earlier Bubastites. It is
to the same period that we must attribute the great cut-leather canopy in
the Gizeh Museum. The catafalque upon which the mummy was laid when
transported from the mortuary establishment to the tomb, was frequently
adorned with a covering made of stuff or soft leather. Sometimes the
sidepieces hung down, and sometimes they were drawn aside with bands, like
curtains, and showed the coffin.

[Illustration: Fig. 272.--Man weaving hangings, or carpet. From Beni Hasan,
Twelfth Dynasty.]

[Illustration: Fig. 273.--Border pattern of cut leather canopy of
Isiemkheb, Twenty-first Dynasty.]

The canopy of Deir el Bahari was made for the Princess Isiemkheb, daughter
of the High Priest Masahirti, wife of the High Priest Menkheperra, and
mother of the High Priest Pinotem III. The centrepiece, in shape an oblong
square, is divided into three bands of sky-blue leather, now faded to
pearl-grey. The two side-pieces are sprinkled with yellow stars. Upon the
middle piece are rows of vultures, whose outspread wings protect the mummy.
Four other pieces covered with red and green chequers are attached to the
ends and sides. The lon